Cloud is just a PR term used for a server or remote device that can process data... it is nothing new. The drivatar thing is cool, but it's not something that can only be done with MS Cloud. It just stores a data packet that is probably created and received/searched from the game itself.

It's using data stored on a server, but that doesn't equal to "cloud". From a technical point, that Real Racing 3 feature is almost no different from the online leaderboards/high score lists in games like Little Big Planet or whatever. And yet people usually aren't screaming "Behold! The power of the cloud!" when they see online leaderboards in a game.

Yes whatever it takes to spin it to say Sony's cloud is better. Sony does everything better apparently. Last Gen they didn't have crossgame chat but it was fine because why would you want to talk to other people unless they are playing the same game as you right? But now that its going to be offered on PS4 its better. Xbox One will sell 0 consoles for the first time ever in history and PS4 will sell 1 billion consoles.

Did you make the game? Calling it nothing more then a leaderboard is a bit downgrading.. If it was that easy surely more games would have done it.. Anyway it is way more fun than a leadboard.. racing against AI opponents modeled after your friends is fun, I would never have know that famousringo is a more agressive driver then tomatito without this.. it impacts the gameplay.. but I do wonder what do you classify as "cloud"? it usage data stored on a server and use calculations to make the AI profile, I know my iPhone isn't doing that.. what more do you need to classify it as Cloud?

@nikkom: the reason it wasn't done before was because it wasn't thought of before. The scripting required for storing a players data and then converting that to affect AI is more difficult to set up initially, but I assure you that it still is done in the game on console not on the cloud. What the cloud does is access these data packets and then sends them to appropriate players for AI implementation. Its not something that requires the cloud, and any game with a leaderboard could just as easily save these types of data packets to use with a game.

http://www.esecuredata.com/pricing/servers-101-cloud-servers-vs-dedicated-servers/
very interesting read... basically says a cloud server is a network of devices with one main interface hub that has access to all the systems in the network. compared to a server which is more of a singular machine, but can still be networked with other servers. The key difference would be dedicated servers can be directly accessed rather than just from 1 main point of entry. Also a network of dedicated servers are basically the same thing except it just takes some extra work to add extra servers than in a cloud set up.

Best quote from that link "This being said, Cloud Servers are at the mercy of their hypervisor and the hardware platform they’re running on. They almost never perform as well as dedicated servers. They can’t — they’re a process that’s sharing a computer with others, whereas the Dedicated Server is a totally self-contained computer sharing nothing with anyone."